I just picked up my motorbike from a service including the Valve clearances, 8 of them needed adjusting. Initially the bike felt noticeably smoother and more powerful but over 10,000rpm the power dropped off significantly and it would not rev past 11,0000rpm, 1,000 rpm below the redline.

They recommend replacement of all the coils (at £400!) as they were swollen but I’ve had this before on bikes and found it’s never caused a problem and the bike ran fine before service. I know they test ride bikes before finishing the job so I guess they didn’t rev it that high.

What do you think is wrong, they damaged a coil when removing, leak on the throttle bodies?

If it was running fine before the service and not afterwards then the fault lays with those that did the work. Coil packs deteriorate normally giving misfires before they fail and all four wouldn’t go at once.
Unfortunately it is your word against theirs and it is this reason I do my own servicing now.
Out of interest waht bike and were the valve clearances out of tolerance?

^^^As above^^^
If it was running alright before the service they’ve obviously damaged something.Is the valve clearance done by removing camshafts & shims? If so they could have got the timing out by a tooth.Have you checked the clearances yourself?

They needed to adjust 8 valves. Ironically I’ve previously done this job on other bikes but this time I thought I’d save myself the hassle and get then job done faster with less downtime by a professional…

I’ve not checked the clearances myself. I know it was running well before, at my last track day the bike wasn’t far off a S1000rr on the straights. My bike is a 2007 Yamaha FZ1 (new shape Fazer).

I think it is shims on the Fazers. I would ask the garage for a full report on the work done including the valve clearances before and after along with the current fault. State that you will be taking the bike for an independent inspection of their work and the fault. If the problems then lay with the original work not done correctly you will be taking them to the small claims court to recover the costs unless they would like to double check their work has been done correctly.

Yes it’s shims. They have offered to check the bike and I’m dropping it off to them tomorrow. I’m expecting them to blame it on the coils. The problem is I rely on the bike for commuting so can’t mess around.

I guess this will be a learning point as to why I’ve been avoiding garages!

tbh If you’re having to rev it past 11k you’re riding it wrong.

I had the 2006 model and the exup causes the power to come in so early (and not having a full-fairing) meant that you could just ride it on the throttle keeping the gears high.

Are the coils attached directly to the plugs? Maybe one is loose.

And with shims you just replace, not adjust – don’t you?

Shims are replaced but it requires a lot of work to do so “just” isn’t the word I would use. As you are putting the valve clearances back into tolerance then you are adjusting them.

11,000 wow. Not often mine gets up there. You must have some commute. As an aside just had mine (1st gen) serviced and exup freed off. It must not have been working at all since I got it, just stuck in the closed position. What a difference above 7000 now. Didn’t think exup makes as much difference on later models.

Yep 11k is pretty high on that bike but I thought it was a good idea to check the full rev band on an empty motorway slip road. It doesn’t see over 9k normally except on fun rides. Mine has had the exup valve removed.

Shims are replaced but it requires a lot of work to do so “just” isn’t the word I would use. As you are putting the valve clearances back into tolerance then you are adjusting them.

Yes, I know that.

Mine has had the exup valve removed.

Why?

Why?

The previous owner did it and fitted an aftermarket exhaust, a fairly common modification. For a start it saves a lot of weight!

Yes, I know that.

so why ask the question 🙄

And with shims you just replace, not adjust – don’t you?

The previous owner did it and fitted an aftermarket exhaust, a fairly common modification. For a start it saves a lot of weight!

Like a semi-naked bike needs more than 140bhp…

Like a semi-naked bike needs more than 140bhp…

Yep! You should try one with just 1 tooth dropped off the front 👿

At least I’ve had the suspension re-valved, braided lines/Brembo pads and the rear end raised to tame the extra poke.

Must be a hell of a slip road – 10000 rpm in 2nd gear on my s1000xr is banning territory…

Rachel

Also…

Like a semi-naked bike needs more than 140bhp…

yes, yes it does…

The previous owner did it and fitted an aftermarket exhaust, a fairly common modification. For a start it saves a lot of weight!

Like a semi-naked bike needs more than 140bhp…
Well, the first comment is about saving weight, which is never a bad thing to lose, so why a reference to more bhp?
More torque would be better, anyway, but a few more ponies wouldn’t go amis, regardless.

Removing the exup valve will give you less torque.
Can’t remember what type of Rev limiter the FZ runs but Yams quite often have a very harsh limiter which will reset to its lowest value after removing the battery.
May just need resetting to a higher value

Someone has made a cant of it. The fact they would straight away blame a coil without a noticable misfire confirms they are not very good at their job.

On my way home from work I tried reving the bike past 11k but with a small amount of throttle, it ran normally all the way up to the redine so I suspect a fueling issue.

I dropped the bike off this morning, the mechanic who worked on the bike immediately shook my hand and apologized. We’ll see what they find!